"D" the Ranter is Colorado's #1 Multi-sport MLBlogger. The Rant is written from a fan's perspective and you can count on "D" to tell you exactly how it is. Tried and Tested…There's a reason the Rant kicks ass in Colorado.

Gett’n Some Luv from the Gov

3-16-12

Rockies vs Reds… Goodyear Stadium

I’m not sure what this mascot is and after a very small amount of thought I decided I didn’t want to know.

I looked but I didn’t see a “Practice” stamped on the outside of it anywhere on it so as far as flat baseballs go it must be the real deal.

Spring training for me has always been a test.

Not a test of my intelligence(thank god), more a test of my patience. Each time I’m down here I try to learn a little more about each facility.This trip has been no different.

Show up a half hour late and you miss batting practice. Think batting practice is going to be one place and you find out it’s at another.

It’s fun yet frustrating at the same time.

Mike and I have yet to experience the joys of a batting practice taking place inside of a stadium. It’s more common to stumble across batting practice occurring discretely out in back of the stadium. That’s exactly what happened today. We were lucky and managed to stumble across some Reds BP taking place in one of the back fields.

Baseballs here are hard to catch on the fly because you only see the ball just as it’s cresting the fence. Despite that annoyance I snagged two baseballs. One on the fly and one was scooped as it was rolling.

In attendance for BP today were Dan, Mike, Amy and Emily.

Everyone snagged at least one baseball. Good job all!!

My first official “Hoser” pic of the season.

Here’s some Rockies pics pre-game.

One of my favorite players Chris Nelson.

While Mike and I were walking the concourse Mike was sure he spotted former Colorado Governor Bill Owens talking to another guy about twenty feet away from us. Upon closer inspection Mike was correct. We wanted to introduce ourselves but neither of us had the testicular fortitude.

So Mike had a great idea.

His idea was to get Amy to break the ice with the Governor. She’s young and not scared of going up to people cold turkey. Amy pulled it off, we met Governor Owens, chatted a bit, shook his hand, and then the Governor signed their ticket stubs and my program and ticket.

The Governor mentioned he had read my blog and before our brief encounter was over in true Ranter style I slipped him my Ranter card. Great guy Governor Owens, friendly and easy to talk to, and loves baseball.

Thank you Sir!!

Here’s the ticket and program the Governor signed for me.

Now some game pictures.

Jon Hererra.

Jon at bat.

Cargo out at second.

I didn’t take as many pictures as usual. That’s because I was lingering in the outfield hoping to catch a home run ball. That’s difficult to do with a camera in your face.

Rockies tried hard in the 9th inning scoring three runs but it was too little too late. Reds take this one with a final score of 4-3.

After the game there was a small fireworks show. Nothing special but kinda cool.

I’m “D” The Ranter and every day is an adventure down here at Spring Training.

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